"Dong!"
"Dong!"
"Dong!"
With the sudden sound of war drums, the Yellow Turban Army quickly became busy.
Shouts, exclamations, and even the pleas for mercy from many cannon fodder intertwined.
Soon,
Countless cannon fodder were awakened from their slumber, pushing and shoving each other towards the city of Luoyang.
And behind the cannon fodder, an endless expanse of earth-yellow figures.
"Earth Duke General~!"
At the forefront of the Yellow Turban soldiers, riding a tall horse, Guan Hai clasped his hands and bowed to Zhang Bao, saying:
"Just wait for my good news. Today, I guarantee I'll take Luoyang for you!"
"Heh, hehe..."
Zhang Bao's mouth twitched, and he forced a smile that wasn't too ugly.
He was a little panicked!
The last time Guan Hai said this, their five thousand Yellow Turbans were completely annihilated.
The time before that when Guan Hai said this, tens of thousands of them attacked the city but failed to take it.
The time before that...
"No!"
"Guards!"
Waving his hand to summon Xu Huang, Liao Hua, and others, Zhang Bao commanded with a grave expression:
"You all assemble your troops and be ready to provide support at any time. Today, we must take Luoyang!"
"Ah?"
Hearing Zhang Bao's order, Xu Huang, Liao Hua, and the others were somewhat taken aback.
"Earth Duke General, aren't we going to stop those reinforcing armies?"
"Uh..."
Reminded by Xu Huang, Zhang Bao patted his forehead, finally remembering the reinforcing armies.
After a moment of thought,
Between worrying about and stopping the reinforcing armies, Zhang Bao still leaned towards taking Luoyang.
"Then how about this!"
Glancing at the generals beside him, Zhang Bao directly assigned them:
"Xu Huang, Yang Feng, you two will accompany the Third General to stop the reinforcing armies!"
"Remember!"
"Do not engage in prolonged battles!"
"As long as we can hold out today, victory will belong to our Yellow Turban Army!"
"Go!"
"Yes!"
Xu Huang, who was stirred up with passion by the persuasion, nodded and led his men away with his great axe.
He was no ordinary person now!
Although in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he followed Yang Feng around, it was because all the great generals of the Yellow Turbans were dead, leaving no one to promote subordinates and suppress themselves.
But now?
The first time Zhang Bao met Xu Huang, he immediately appointed him to command several hundred men.
And Xu Huang proved himself worthy!
After several instances,
Xu Huang had now far surpassed Yang Feng, becoming one of Zhang Bao's top loyal followers.
Moreover,
Unlike his later advice to Yang Feng to welcome back Emperor Ling in the Romance, the current Xu Huang simply didn't care about the Han dynasty.
Is this it?
Is this it?
Not a single worthy opponent!
It wasn't an exaggeration,
The great Han generals he had encountered these days, he could single-handedly defeat them all!
Of course!
What Xu Huang would never have imagined was that he was about to face his destined adversary!
...
Outside the city of Chang'an,
On the official road,
While a fierce battle was raging in Luoyang, Ye Feng and the other two had already spotted the gates of Chang'an from afar.
"Mas... Master~!"
Seeing that Ye Feng was about to enter the city, Chen Gong could no longer hold back.
"Where... where are our troops?"
"What's the hurry?"
Ye Feng looked at Chen Gong with a chuckle, "The troops will definitely be slower than us!"
"But..."
Glancing at the majestic city walls of Chang'an, Chen Gong had a mournful expression, saying:
"If we enter now and are recognized, it will be a big trouble!"
"Trouble?"
Ye Feng sneered at this, his tone full of disdain, "Does this governor seem like someone who fears trouble?"
"Besides..."
He paused here, a slight curve of his lips.
"If there wasn't some trouble, how could we legitimately attack the city?"
"Uh..."
Looking at Ye Feng's righteous expression, Chen Gong was at a loss for words.
What?
You're going to risk your life just for an excuse?
This is Chang'an, for crying out loud!
Your prestige might be useful in other prefectures and counties, but it might not work here.
After all,
Chang'an is located in Sanfu, which is close to Liangzhou.
Why emphasize this?
Because the people of Liangzhou are warlike!
Perhaps it's because of the many Qiang and Hu tribes, or perhaps because of its remote location, the Qiang and Hu tribes and the people of Liangzhou are relatively good at fighting.
Throughout history,
Rebellions and their suppression in the Liangzhou region have always ranked at the top.
Even compared to Bingzhou and Youzhou, Liangzhou had a much higher rebellion rate.
There were simply too many foreign tribes!
Although they are all called Qiang and Hu, the Qiang and Hu are further divided into many types.
Such as the Xianling Qiang, Shaodang Qiang, Baima Qiang... and so on!
From 77 AD to the present, these Qiang and Hu tribes have had more than 50 major and minor rebellions.
On average, there was a Qiang and Hu rebellion every year!
Therefore,
Whether it's Chang'an or Sanfu, the soldiers and officers here are relatively formidable.
As for why they didn't participate in the reinforcement?
They couldn't leave!
Only Ding Yuan from Bingzhou in the border regions came with his troops.
Cough!
Although this had something to do with Youzhou being taken by Ye Feng, it also indicated the problem.
Reinforcing the emperor was important, but it wasn't to the point of deploying border troops.
Because if border troops were deployed, there was an eighty percent chance of foreign tribes rebelling.
At that time,
Even if the internal rebellions were suppressed, wouldn't they have to return to suppress the Qiang and Hu?
If they could suppress them, it would be fine, but what if they suffered too heavy losses and couldn't suppress them?
So,
Even when the Yellow Turbans had reached Hulao Pass, Emperor Ling did not deploy the Chang'an garrison.
As for later?
There was no opportunity!
He wanted the Chang'an garrison to come to the rescue, but the Yellow Turbans besieged the city too quickly.
Coupled with the fact that the troops within Chang'an were not numerous, they were not deployed further.
But this "not numerous" was in comparison to the Yellow Turban Army and the large Qiang and Hu forces!
As a secondary capital, Chang'an had at least two thousand guards, right?
At this moment, if someone in the city shouted, "That rebel named Ye has arrived..."
"Hiss!"
Thinking of that terrifying scenario, Chen Gong quickly stepped forward to block Ye Feng.
"Master, why don't we wait outside? Chang'an is too dangerous!"
"It's too late!"
"What?"
Chen Gong was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding Ye Feng's meaning.
"We've already been spotted!"
Looking at the guards rushing into the city from afar, the curve of Ye Feng's lips widened.
"It seems my reputation is quite good, it's even spread here!"
"..."
Chen Gong's mouth twitched upon hearing this, and he suddenly wanted to turn and leave.
Your reputation?
It is indeed renowned!
Whether it's a lecherous ghost or a rebel leader, it's more famous than your title as governor.
Unfortunately,
Chen Gong ultimately didn't understand the late Han dynasty, or rather, he didn't understand the aristocratic families.
...
Inside Chang'an City,
The Governor's Mansion,
Or rather, the residence of the Jingzhao Yin, was packed with people at this moment.
Why?
Of course, to celebrate!
To celebrate their Sanfu region having a new warlord, to celebrate that they wouldn't suffer the disaster of the Yellow Turbans.
Unfortunately,
Just as they were feasting and drinking happily, a scout rushed in.
"My... my family head, it's bad. It's bad..."
"Scoundrel!"
Glancing at the panicked servant, a man in his forties at the head of the group snorted coldly,
"Speak properly, what's with all the fuss?"
"Yes, yes..."
Swallowing with difficulty, the scout who had rushed in panting said:
"My... oh, no, Sir, that rebel leader, that rebel leader has really come!"
"What?!"
As the scout's words fell, the middle-aged man shot up, grabbing the scout by the collar.
"What did you just say? Who's here? The rebel leader is here?"
"Yes, yes..."
Lifted by one hand, the scout felt his breathing become difficult.
If the middle-aged man hadn't noticed something was wrong in time, he might have been the first scout to be strangled for delivering a message.
"Cough, cough~!"
The middle-aged man, realizing something was wrong, let go and coughed twice to cover his embarrassment.
After the scout, who had narrowly escaped death, had recovered on the ground, he asked:
"What exactly is going on?"
"Speak quickly!"
"..."
The scout, who had escaped death, felt wronged, but he dared not say anything.
Helpless,
He could only recount the news of seeing Ye Feng at the city gate exactly as it happened.
As for why he recognized Ye Feng?
It was thanks to his appearance in Chenliu Commandery and his prolonged stay.
The portraits of the rebel leader on the market nowadays were not cheap!
What?
Can't distinguish portraits from this era?
That's easy!
You just need to see if there are women accompanying him, and you can generally confirm it.
The scout identified Ye Feng this way and then scrambled to report.
"Hiss!"
"So it really is that rebel leader?"
After hearing the report from the servant who was also a scout, the middle-aged man found it quite troublesome.
He had originally sent out Ye Feng's portrait to create a sense of urgency among the citizens and families in the city, but he never expected this fellow to actually come!
This is Chang'an!
Even if they were to go, they should go to Luoyang, why would he come to Chang'an for no reason?
Did he know?
Impossible!
He had been preparing for a long time, and only yesterday did he get the chance to take down the original Jingzhao Yin in one fell swoop.
How could that rebel leader Ye Feng know?
Even if his spies were powerful, he couldn't have arrived overnight.
If that's the case, why did this fellow suddenly appear in Chang'an?
What was his objective?
The more he thought about it, the more troubled the middle-aged man became, and he sat back down irritably.
"Everyone, you've all heard it, haven't you? What do you think that rebel leader intends to do?"
"This..."
As the middle-aged man finished speaking, everyone in the hall looked at each other.
Finally,
A middle-aged man sitting next to him stood up and advised:
"Brother, there's no use thinking about it now. Why don't we go and see for ourselves!"
"See him?"
The middle-aged man hesitated upon hearing this, his tone laced with a hint of guilt, "In our current situation, under what pretense should we go to see him?"
"As fellow travelers?"
"Or should we arrange something ourselves? He doesn't know the situation here anyway!"
"Uh..."
The middle-aged man who stood up to offer advice was stunned for a moment before he finally realized.
Damn it!
They were rebels too!